KNOXVILLE - Crystal Flack, a Knoxville resident, has filed a Shared-Use Allocation Proposal with the City.

To the Knoxville City Recorder, Elected Officials and Community Stakeholders:

Pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 8-44-104(a), I am formally filing this record of the specific Shared-Use Allocation Proposal submitted during the Chilhowee Park Advisory Group (CPAG) meeting on March 24, 2026. This document is submitted for your records as it constitutes a document "made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any governmental entity," as defined by T.C.A. § 10-7-503(a)(1)(A). I am submitting this specifically to ensure it is indexed as a formal record of the municipality regarding the Jacob Building.

I. THE PROPOSAL FOR SHARED-USE ALLOCATION (57,000 SQ. FT.) The following specific allocation was submitted at all four designated feedback stations at the Jacob Building:

20,000 Sq. Ft.: African-American Entrepreneurship Investment Restoration Incubator (AAEIRI).

20,000 Sq. Ft.: Muse’s Historic State-of-the-Art Science Museum.

17,000 Sq. Ft.: Chilhowee Park Welcome Center.

II. LEGAL STANDING & FIDUCIARY NOTICE - The City of Knoxville remains in Active Default of a legislative liability formally acknowledged in Resolution R-367-2020. This debt is a direct consequence of the systemic destruction of African-American generational wealth and property during the Urban Renewal era.

The City's authority under T.C.A. § 12-2-302(2) to enter into a lease is contingent upon terms being in the interests of the municipality. A negotiation that gifts a multimillion-dollar asset for $1.00 a year is not in the best interest of the municipality and fails to address the mandatory credit against the principal of the $100 Million Restoration Debt (Resolution R-367-2020).

III. NOTICE OF COMMUNICATION GAP & FILING NECESSITY - The Chilhowee Park Advisory Group (CPAG) currently lacks a dedicated communications channel or formal process for the submission of written records.  Since there is no verifiable means to ensure that public input is captured in the official record through the CPAG, this filing to the City Recorder, Will Johnson, is necessary.  This filing serves to bridge the current communication gap and ensures that my Shared-Use Allocation Proposal is formally indexed and preserved as a permanent municipal record.

IV. FORMAL NOTICE OF ACCOUNTABILITY - This filing places the Knoxville City Council and all involved Stakeholders on formal notice of the AAEIRI Allocation Proposal. This record serves as notice that the City is allocating a multimillion-dollar asset to a private lease while the $100 Million Restoration Debt (Resolution R-367-2020) remains an active, admitted, and unsatisfied municipal liability. Any failure to index this filing violates T.C.A. § 8-44-104(a), which requires minutes of a governmental body to include a record of all proposals offered.

V. CONSTITUTIONAL & PROCEDURAL DEFICIT; DEMAND FOR RESCISSION - The authorization approved on August 19, 2025, regarding the Muse Lease of the Jacob Building, is a direct violation of the Tennessee Constitution, Article II, Section 29, which prohibits the gift or loan of public assets and credit to a private corporation. This action is void from its inception. I am formally identifying a procedural failure in how the City is attempting to bypass its own fiduciary duties: The City has failed to declare the Jacob Building as "Surplus Property," yet it is attempting to utilize Procurement Policy Section 15 (Disposal of Surplus Property) to authorize a 20-year lease for a "nominal fee" of $1.00. Under Section 15.4(c), such nominal consideration is reserved exclusively for property valued at less than $1,000. As a Creditor of the $100 Million Restoration Debt (Resolution R-367-2020), I am notifying the Knoxville City Council that it cannot legally gift municipal assets while in active default of its restoration mandate. Under Robert’s Rules of Order, the Council maintains the inherent legislative authority to rescind the August 19, 2025 authorization to cure these constitutional and procedural deficits.

--Crystal L. Flack